Heiress of Tal–y–Rhys
by Golden Elanor
Summary: Set in the Slytherin Rising Universe created by J.L. Matthews, an AU of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. ‘Heiress of Tal-y-Rhys’ takes place before Slytherin Rising. Main characters: Deanna Tyler, Caitlin Tyler, Luella Martin. Please R&R!


**-Heiress of Tal-y-Rhys-**

**By:** Elanor

**Rating: **G

**Feedback: **elanor_@wanadoo.nl

**Spoilers: **I suppose it contains some spoilers for the Slytherin Rising epic

**Disclaimer:  
**All disclaimers apply. All characters, with the exception of Peter Briggs, are property of J.L. Matthews. This story is set in the Slytherin Rising universe by J.L. Matthews, an AU of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.  
However, the Chameleon Charm is, as far as I know, mine! *g*  
This story is posted with the permission of J.L. Matthews, author of Slytherin Rising on which this fic is based. I am receiving no money for it and it was written for enjoyment only.

**Summary:  
**Set in the Slytherin Rising Universe created by J.L. Matthews, an AU of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. 'Heiress of Tal-y-Rhys' takes place before Slytherin Rising. Main characters: Deanna Tyler, Caitlin Tyler, Luella Martin.

**Author's Note:  
**This story needs some explanation first, I kindly ask you to humour the author and take the time to read the following:  
'Heiress of Tal-y-Rhys' is a fanfic on Slytherin Rising which is a huge epic fan fic on Harry Potter. Slytherin Rising (work in process) by J.L. Matthews is in my humble opinion, and many will agree with me, one of the best pieces of fan fiction ever written. It suffices to say that I'm not a true Harry Potter fan but I _have_ become a passionate Slytherin Rising fan, and truth to be told, I'm more looking forward to Miss Matthews' updates than to the next Harry Potter instalment. Before I forget the most important thing: you can find her stories by going to www.fanfiction.net/~jlmatthews.

I have to add that the author has not only created a work worthy publishing, she has many more qualities than writing. She's a most kind and generous person, interested in what others think of her stories and taking the time to respond to anyone's questions and remarks. She's also constantly working on improving Slytherin Rising and that in itself is laudable as I know from personal experience how hard it is to set yourself to rewrite chapters you've already posted.

This leaves me with only one thing left to say: go read Slytherin Rising and when you're done (mind you, that could take a couple of days) please return to this fic and Read & Review this story as well!

**Additional Author's Note:**  
'Heiress of Tal-y-Rhys' is beta read by none other than J.L. Matthews herself and, to use her own words, 'it's approved and commented on by me'.

**Dedication:  
**This story is dedicated to Miss J.L. Matthews for writing her brilliant Slytherin Rising. Consider this as a fan fiction on Slytherin Rising, which implies you have gained a position among the elect such as J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling herself. Thanks for writing Slytherin Rising, it truly is a piece of art!

~ Heiress of Tal-y-Rhys ~

She sat on a fallen tree trunk in one of the more hidden areas of the park, left foot on the ground, the other on the piece of wood, her arms wrapped around her right leg in a both defensive and rebellious gesture. Deanna Tyler, barely nine summers old, was not in a good mood.

"Stupid Briggs! I still can't understand why no one has ever given him a good knock on the head!"

"Because of his parents," her friend Luella Martin replied bitterly. "They care so much about their little Sweetey-Petey they don't see his mistakes!"

"The school should do something about it!"

"They can't," sighed Luella in resignation. "After that first scuffle with you, he took care not to pick his fights on the school grounds."

Deanna was still furious. "Maybe we could poison him."

"Dee!" shouted Luella in shock. "You can't be serious!"

Her friend shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why you ask? That would be murder!" Luella shook her head in disbelief. "Sometimes you manage to scare even me, Dee."

Deanna said nothing but to Luella it seemed the dark-haired girl was not overly bothered by the idea of murder. She decided to change the subject. "Anyway, what are you going to tell your mum?"

Luella was aware of the fact that Deanna's mother, Caitlin Tyler, was not very enthusiastic about her daughter getting in fights practically every two weeks.

Deanna stared ahead blankly. "I'm not planning on telling her at all. There were no witnesses and she still hasn't completely cooled off from the last time."

Luella cringed in sympathy, she vividly remembered a seething Caitlin telling her daughter not to punch other children in the face. The whole lecture had sounded slightly off to Luella's ears though, as it seemed Caitlin was more upset about the fact that Deanna had been caught in the act, instead of committing the actual deed of hitting the younger boy.

"But there's still some blood on your shirt, not mentioning that it's practically torn in two. Besides, there's dirt all over your face and your hair is in a really messy tangle."

"Well, Lu," Duenna looked at her friend apologetically. "I was kind of hoping you'd be able to help me with that."

Luella raised a surprised eyebrow. "How?"

"If I'd sneak into your home, clean up a bit and borrow one of your shirts," Deanna trailed off, her eyes willing her to understand.

Luella laughed, "But of course I'll help you out, no need to look at me that way!"

"Thanks, Lu!" Deanna exclaimed relieved, "I knew I could count on you! My mum would probably kill us if we tried to sneak into my room, whether accidentally or not!"

They were quiet for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I hate it," Luella suddenly said. "I hate when they call us freaks look at us if we're some kind of alien species!"

"We've been there countless times, Lu," replied Deanna dismissively. "They are the weird ones, remember? Not us."

Luella felt her anger flare. "I can't believe how you can take it so easily! Doesn't it bother you they consider us dirt?! The best we can hope for is that they ignore us and leave us alone! What does that make us?"

"Don't let them get to you, that's what they want. Who cares what a bunch of stupid Muggles think of us?"

Luckily Luella was far too upset to register Deanna's slip. "Look who's talking! Heed your own advice before telling me what to do! Should I remind you it was not me beating the crap out of Briggs! All anyone has to do to make you see red is insult your dad!"

"He called my dad a coward!"

The two friends were facing each other angrily, Luella's face was flushed and Deanna's nose had started to bleed again when she had furiously jumped up from the log she had been sitting on.

Suddenly the absurdity of the situation hit them.

"I'm sorry, Dee," apologised Luella. "I didn't mean to lash out at you like that."

"I'm sorry too, it's not you I'm angry with, it's Peter Briggs."

"Come," said Luella grabbing her handkerchief. "Let me help stop the bleeding."

Again silence descended on the two of them but soon Luella's soft voice broke it, "Thanks by the way for standing up for me today."

Deanna looked away, blushing slightly. "Hey, don't mention it, you'd do the same for me."

Luella, however, forced her friend to look in her blue eyes. "I'm serious, Dee, I don't say it often but I'm glad you're always by my side. Not only when Briggs tries to get under my skin like today, but always."

"I was serious as well," replied Deanna. "I wasn't doing anything you wouldn't have done for me. That's what friends are for!"

They laughed and the quarrel was instantly forgotten as they talked about the future; the time when they would escape from the summit of boredom also known as Surrey.

"We should really head home now, Dee," Luella said at a certain moment. "It's almost five."

"Can't we stay just a little longer?" whined Deanna. She was not exactly looking forward to face her mother, even after she making herself presentable at the Martins' chances were high Caitlin would see through her anyway.

"Well, I for one, am not prepared to be the object of my dad's wrath for a second time this week."

"Aw, Lu, it wasn't that bad!"

"Easy for you to say! You didn't see him, honestly, I hadn't been surprised had he exploded from anger if mum hadn't intervened!"

"Yeah, well, I suppose you're right," Deanna conceded and taking a disgusted look at her cloths she added, "I also don't mind getting all this blood off me."

When they got at the beginning of the street Deanna and Luella lived, Luella stopped. "How are we going to get you inside? Any ideas?"

Deanna nodded. "First we need to know where your parents are at the moment."

"They'll be watching TV now, _Countdown_ is on," Luella commented.

Deanna rolled her eyes and Luella immediately got defensive. "Hey, I can't help it they like it, it's not _my_ favourite show!"

"Okay, okay," pacified Deanna. "Anyway, them watching TV in the sitting-room is perfect. You just go in, yell you're home and that you're going to your room to do some homework or whatever. In the meantime I get to the drain-pipe and climb up to the study. You open the window and I'm in. A piece of cake!"

Luella looked a bit sceptical but after giving it a thorough check she realised the only flaw in their plan. "What if they're not watching TV?"

"That's why I'll do some scouting first."

"But what if they see you, after all, you don't know where they are? What if they'll look out of the window the exact moment you decide to sneak closer?"

"Don't worry, Lu, they won't see me," assured Deanna. "It's not as we've never done similar things before; give me one example when someone saw me on reconnaissance."

"Your mum," said Luella pointedly.

"Well, aside from my mum," Deanna redefined her challenge.

"Point taken."

Deanna smiled smugly. "You stay here, while I go check."

"Good luck and don't get caught!" Luella couldn't refrain from yelling at her retreating form.

Deanna just rolled her eyes in response, though the satisfaction was lessened as Luella couldn't see it. In truth, Deanna had absolutely no doubt any one would see her. Checking whether no one was in sight she quickly cast the Chameleon Charm which enabled her to blend in with her surroundings. While the spell was practically ineffective in regard to magical creatures, it offered enough protection against Muggles who where not looking for something, or in Deanna's case someone, in particular.

'It's such a shame Lu is no witch, imagine all the fun if we could use magic,' she reflected sadly. 'But I can't even mention the existence of magic to her.'

It did not take long before Deanna could see the Martin house and quietly she crept closer, taking the precaution to approach the house from the back as the Tylers lived opposite the Martins. Deanna took as little risk as possible, not on any consideration did she want to explain to her mother why she was breaking into her best friend's home.

She peeked inside and saw that Luella had been right, the Tylers were indeed sitting in front of the TV appearing to be following the programme's events in utter concentration. Shaking her head at their choice, Deanna quickly ran back to where Luella was still waiting for her. After saying the counter spell to the Chameleon Charm she approached her friend from behind, placing a hand on Luella's shoulder.

"Argh!" screamed Luella, turning around with a whoosh. "I hate it when you do that!"

Deanna just grinned that annoying arrogant grin of her. "But I love to see you squeaking and jumping up like a terrified rabbit!"

"Be careful, one time you will be sneaked upon and you'll know how it feels," admonished Luella.

"Rubbish!" Deanna boasted. "No one but my mum can surprise me and she's an… policewoman!"

Again Luella did not notice Deanna's hesitation and the latter quickly changed the subject, "Anyway, you were right, they _are_ watching _Countdown_."

"Okay, let's do it then!" decided Luella and the two walked down the road, determined they would succeed in their latest endeavour.

Luella Martin took a deep breath before she entered her home by way of the back door. Walking quickly through the kitchen she entered the hall, stuck her head into the doorway and made her presence known by shouting a quick, "Hey mum, dad, I'm home!"

"Hey darling!" her mother responded glancing at her daughter.

"Got a lot of homework though so I'll be upstairs!"

Her parents murmured something back but Luella did not pay attention and was already on her way to the study, situated on the first floor, next to the bathroom.

When she quickly ran to the window she saw Deanna waving her right hand in an irritated gesture while with her left was firmly grasping the drain-pipe.

"You took your time there!" was the first Deanna said as she climbed inside. "I've been hanging out there for ages! I was terrified anyone would see me, it's not everyday you see some crazy girl clinging to a drain-pipe!"

"Well, I could hardly run in, yell hi, and run upstairs!" defended Luella herself. "Then they would have suspected something, don't you think?"

"Okay," Deanna grudgingly agreed. "Next time I'll just wait a minute or two before I start my way up. Now, let's get this stuff off me," she added gesturing at her face on which there was still some cooked blood.

Luella peeked outside the study and motioned Deanna to slip inside the Martin's bathroom which seemed to Deanna typically Muggle-like. Luella closed the door and turned to her friend who already had turned on the tap and was making an albeit unsuccessful attempt to get the dirt out of her shirt.

"Give me that!" Luella said irritated grabbing the sponge from Deanna's hands and holding it under the tap. "You'll never get it out of your clothes without washing-powder, or at least soap."

Deanna looked at her hands sheepishly, she could hardly tell her friend she normally used magic to clean her clothes. Grabbing a wash-cloth instead she began to clean her face, "Forget the shirt, I can borrow one of yours, can't I?"

Luella nodded. "Of course. Hold on, I'll get you one right now."

When Luella came back Deanna had washed her face and had now proceeded to try to get her hair presentable. The raven-coloured hair was difficult at its best, greasy within two days and no spring in it at all. Now, however, it looked even worse: soil and twigs adorned it and a lost leaf provided the finishing touch.

'Actually,' mused Luella, 'It would be great blackmail material if I'd be able to get a picture of this moment.'

One look at Deanna who seemed to know exactly what she was thinking of and any thought of taking advantage of the situation evaporated into thin air. "Here's the shirt," she said nervously, shoving the piece of cloth unceremoniously into Deanna's hands before making a hasty exit. "I'm just going to check on my parents."

Deanna grinned knowing perfectly well the effect of her glare. Looking at the shirt Luella had picked she nodded appreciatively at the choice as it resembled Deanna's own closely, but for the dirt and obvious damage of course.

Just when she was starting to wonder where Luella had disappeared her friend entered the room. Holding her old shirt in front of her, Deanna asked, "Hey, Lu, could I please leave this at your place? Bring it with you tomorrow and we'll get rid of it on our way to school."

Luella nodded and tucked the shirt away in one of the closets. "No problem, mate."

"I don't want to rush you or anything but won't your mum be worried? I mean, it's already a quarter past five," Luella asked slightly worried.

"Didn't I tell you?" Deanna feigned surprise. "Mum knows where I am, I told her this morning I'd probably stay at your place."

Deanna said this with a poker face though she was lying through her teeth; she had not mentioned going to the Martins to her mother at all.

"Good," Luella sighed in relief, unaware she was being cunningly deceived.

For a second Deanna felt a stab of guilt but it was soon quenched when she imagined a raging Caitlin towering over her. Though she realised she was only postponing the inevitable she did not feel confident enough to face her mother yet.

"Here's what we're going to do," decided Deanna. "I'm going to climb out of the window again and then I'll walk in through the back pretending to visit you."

"I'll stay upstairs, they still think I'm working on my homework," Luella added when the two girls sneaked back to the study.

Luella opened the window and could not resist grinning as she saw Deanna climbing out of the window as agile as a cat. She waited until she was safe out of Deanna's reach and quietly yelled, "Next time I'll bring my camera along!"

Imagining a furious Deanna whispering threatening her with the worst punishments she could think of she closed the window grinning and returned to her room.

It was not long before she heard her mother calling her downstairs. She was just descending the last stair steps when she heard her mother from the kitchen. "How funny, Deanna, Luella has exactly the same shirt!"

"Yeah," Deanna answered a bit nervously. "What a funny coincidence!"

Luella decided to save her friend and stepped inside. "Hey Dee, what's up?"

"Just though I'd drop by, if I'm not intruding of course," she hastily added to Luella's mother.

"Of course not, Deanna, will you be staying for dinner?"

"If it's no trouble, yes please! You're the best cook in the world, Mrs Martin!"

"Oh," Mrs Martin dismissed the praise with a wave of her hand. "You exaggerate, I'm not that good."

Before Deanna could respond she turned around and busied herself with some cutlery. "Anyway, it's always a pleasure having you stay for dinner."

Then she ushered them out of the kitchen. "Now, off you go, enjoy yourselves."

Dinner was rather uneventful unless one includes the fact that Mrs Martin no less than thrice replenished Deanna's plate. Only once they entered dangerous territory, when Mr Martin asked how the day had been.

"Fine," answered Luella. "Nothing eventful happened."

"Matthews was even so kind to give us no homework for tomorrow," Deanna added. She had felt so at ease with the Martins she had let her attention slip for a moment which resulted in forgetting that Luella was supposed to have been working for school before she showed up. As soon as the words left her mouth she mentally shouted at herself, how could she have been so stupid?!

Indeed, Celia Martin looked confused at her daughter. "But I thought you said you had a lot of homework for tomorrow?"

"Err," Luella hesitated and glanced at Deanna for help but the dark-eyed girl was not able to offer any, looking quite desperate herself. Cursing her friend for getting her in this situation Luella racked her brain to come up with some plausible explanation. "I, I still had some geography to do, I haven't been keeping up with everything."

Her angry eyes met Deanna's glinting ones. 'You owe me one, big time!' she seemed to say.

Deanna's innocent gaze was a mixture of gratitude and plain amusement. After all, the irony was all too obvious, Luella _always_ did her homework, contrary to Deanna who only put effort in the subjects she liked, neglecting those that did not interest her, which incidentally included geography, without a second thought.

The adults did not seem to have noticed anything. "I hope that won't happen too often," Mr Martin remarked.

"Of course not, it was just this once," Luella answered.

Luckily the conversation was steered away from dangerous grounds when Mrs Martin inquired after her husband's day.

After dinner Deanna stayed a little longer but when the grand clock stroke eight Mrs Martin entered Luella's room. "Deanna, I don't want to rush you but it's eight o'clock and you know your mother wants you to be home no later than eight."

"I know, Mrs Martin," Deanna sighed. "Well, Lu, I suppose I'd better go."

Giving her mother a side glance telling her she wanted to talk to Deanna privately Luella said, "Of course, come on, I'll walk along with you."

Her mother let the two girls pass but could not resist telling Luella that after she had brought Deanna home she was to immediately return home.

"Hey, thanks Lu, for everything," Deanna said as Luella put on her jacket.

"Don't mention it, do you want a coat as well? It has become pretty chilly."

"Nah, I'll be fine."

The two girls crossed the street in silence, preoccupied by their own thoughts. Arriving at the gate of the Tyler garden Deanna opened it. It squeaked stridently reminding her to tell her mum to oil it, magically of course. Finally they stood in front of the back door.

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Luella concerned, a sudden feeling of unease making its way down her spine.

"Of course!" responded Deanna sharply. "Why do you ask?"

Luella shook her head, a bit ashamed of her weakness. "No reason. Forget I said anything."

Deanna's eyes softened, "You're a fine mate, Lu, I'll see you tomorrow, don't worry about me."

"If you say so," Luella grinned. "See you tomorrow then!"

When Deanna closed the door behind her the forced smile vanished instantly and she suppressed a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.

She opened the door to the hall as silently as possible and peeked down the hall. Deanna knew her chances of sneaking up to her room unnoticed were slim to none but it was still worth a try. Seeing no one she made her way towards the stairs, meanwhile consciously averting her gaze from the living room as past experience had led her to believe Caitlin could actually sense when someone was looking at her. When she put her hand on the banisters she let out a small sigh of relief, inwardly congratulating herself on her successful attempt to tiptoe past her mother.

"Deanna."

She closed her eyes for a moment, cursing whatever gods there were and directly afterwards begging them to give her strength to face her mother. Then she shook herself, took a deep breath and opened the door to the living room, hoping her mother would be in a forgiving mood and yet remaining realistic and bracing herself for the worst.

Deanna found her mother lying leisurely on the sofa. It seemed as if Caitlin Tyler was merely relaxing from a hard day's work, if not for the two bottles of wine standing right beside her. One was already empty and the other seemed just over half full with red wine. A crystal wine glass was held loosely in her right hand and she was looking at the flames, completely mesmerised by the dancing fire.

"Deanna." Again, Caitlin restricted herself to merely saying Deanna's name.

Deanna cringed at her mother's voice, she hated it when Caitlin used this tone; it was pure indifference. To Deanna it sounded as if Caitlin felt obliged she had to question her daughter's whereabouts, instead of interrogating her based on parental concern.

"Yes?" her own tone so cold it would be able freeze the very fires of Hell. In her heart she knew her mother cared about her and was currently not in her usual state of mind but she would be damned if she let it show.

"What time is it?"

"Just past eight," Deanna said defiantly, daring her mother to show some emotion.

However, Caitlin did not rise to the bait. "What time are you supposed to be home?"

"Five o'clock."

Caitlin was silent and Deanna added scornfully, "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Caitlin still didn't say anything and merely took a sip from the by now practically empty glass. It was quiet for a while, Deanna getting more frustrated every second while Caitlin continued to stare stoically in front of here.

"Where have you been?" came Caitlin's sudden question, however it was still devoid of any outward emotion.

"At Luella's," Deanna answered through gritted teeth, fully aware that Caitlin had cast a Location spell and had known damn well where she had been all day.

"Celia and Terry let you stay for so long?" asked Caitlin slightly surprised. It was the first show of true emotion on her face and Deanna had to bite back a sudden wave of tears at the realisation that it had been Luella's parents that had brought it about, not her.

"Yes," she responded with a bite, but then her conscience got the better of her. After all, it was not the Martins' fault and knowing her mother she would go down on the Martins like a bloodhound tomorrow first thing in the morning. So she added, "I told them I had your permission."

At this, Caitlin whipped her head and Deanna saw the first smoulders of anger stirring in her mother's eyes. Though on one hand Deanna welcomed the fact that it finally registered with Caitlin she, Deanna, was in the room, she started to feel a bit worried as well. Caitlin Tyler in her right mind was a dangerous opponent indeed and no one, including her daughter, wanted to get on her bad side.

At last escaping the haze that had loomed over her thoughts, Caitlin scrutinised her daughter carefully. "Why are you wearing Luella's shirt?" she asked, her voice still sounded lethal though the effect was slightly lessened by the alcohol. 'It's just that now I'll die a quick and relatively painless death instead of a torture session,' Deanna sarcastically commented to herself.

"I spilled some tomato sauce on mine."

"Deanna Melissa Tyler! Do not lie to me!"

Deanna shrank back in fear. "It got, err, damaged!" she opted for the truth.

Caitlin narrowed her eyes. "You've been fighting again!"

At the obvious accusation Deanna felt her own temper stir. "They were harassing my friend!"

"There are other ways to take revenge!"

"What's wrong with mine?!"

"One day it will get you killed!" Caitlin said harshly, getting up from the couch and advancing on her daughter.

"Well, better dead than a coward who didn't defend his friends!"

Deanna's dark eyes resembled black coals waiting to be lighted into a fire. "Daddy would have done the same!"

With a sharp sound the crystal glass broke in Caitlin's grasp as the woman had squeezed it so tightly it shattered in thousands of pieces. Wine mingled with blood, a painful fusion of dark crimson and brilliant red.

"Don't you dare bring your father into this," Caitlin said in a dangerous deceptively quiet tone Deanna knew all too well. It meant Caitlin was truly upset and hurt to her core but at the moment the raven-haired girl did not care about it at all.

"Why not?" she challenged, while deep down she felt something began to stir inside her waiting to be released. "Why do you never talk about him?!"

"That, Deanna Tyler, is none of your business."

Peter Briggs' accusations came rushing back to her and something snapped in Deanna. "You never tell me anything about him!"

At the last word she released the force she had felt slowly building up and saw the wine in the half full bottle in flames. "I always have to scrape for information and even then I have to base my opinions on you not denying things!"

Even Caitlin looked taken aback at her daughter's fury and she could not but stare back at her in amazement.

Amid the sound of more shattering glass as a nearby cabinet exploded, Deanna screamed again as tears were running down her cheeks, "I hate you!"

Upon hearing those last words Caitlin raised her hand and slapped her daughter in the face.

All went quiet at once; though the slap had not been hard the shock was all too obvious in the expressions of both mother and daughter.

"I hate you," Deanna whispered hoarsely. "Sometimes I wish it had been _you_ that died, not dad."

With those cruel words she stormed out of the house, into the cool of the night. Caitlin made a step forward as to follow her daughter but the alcohol in her body made itself brutally aware as she lost her balance. Not worried about her daughter's welfare as she was sure Deanna had run to Luella's, Caitlin collapsed on a nearby chair and put her head in her hands, silent tears escaping through her hands. "Oh Lil, you would've handled this so much better. What am I to do now?"

Meanwhile Deanna had indeed run to her best friend's house and for the second time that day climbed up the drain-pipe and through the window on the first floor. It had been locked but after a whispered 'alohamora' it sprang open and Deanna ran to Luella's room. She hoped Mr and Mrs Martin were still sitting downstairs watching TV as she could not manage to hide her sniffles and tears. Bursting into the room of her friend she found Luella lying on her bed, a CD of _Enya_ playing softly in the background.

Upon hearing the sniffles Luella sat straight up and immediately recognised Deanna.

"Dee! What's wrong, what happened?" she asked the distraught girl before her who sank down in the desk chair.

"It's mum," Deanna sobbed.

"Oh, Dee," sighed Luella got up from the bed and put an arm over the dark-haired girl's shaking shoulders. "It's going to be alright, don't worry. But first let's go outside before mum and dad hear us, come on."

Deanna merely nodded and let herself be lead out to the garden. Though it had become even chillier the two did not notice the cold, Deanna much too distraught and Luella equally shocked. The two friends walked to their favourite spot and Deanna immediately let herself fall on her knees, clutching the grass in her fingers willing herself to stop the torrent of tears.

"Now," Luella said coming down to business as she herself graciously sat down on the ground. "Tell me what happened."

Deanna had found the strength to calm down a bit and looked guiltily at her hands while fidgeting with some blades of grass. "I lied to you," she whispered. "Mum didn't know where I was."

Though this was anything but a clear answer Luella had known her friend practically all her life and had by now learned to decipher her friend's thoughts. "So you never told her you were staying here."

"No," Deanna shook her head, fighting fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

"So I take it that your mother was angry with you?" Luella probed further. She still did not understand why Deanna was so upset; it would not be the first time Deanna had disobeyed her mother's orders but never had she been so upset about it as now. Deanna Tyler was a very honest girl and accepted punishment if she was out of line. She might not like it and always fought the decision but in the end she was aware of the fact she deserved it.

"At first she wasn't," answered Deanna. "She'd been drinking again,' she continued with a disgusted look on her face. "She wasn't angry, it was worse, she just didn't care."

Luella closed her eyes for a moment, she knew how much Deanna hated when her mother was in that kind of mood. Deanna could handle anger but she had no answer to indifference. 'Who has?' Luella silently wondered.

"But then she found out I'd been in a fight and from then on it went downhill fast. I mentioned dad and she clammed up, as usual," she said bitterly.

Suddenly she looked directly at her friend and Luella startled at the hurt and lost expression in the dark eyes. "Lu, why does she never talk about him? He was a good, honourable man who died for a good cause. There's nothing to be ashamed of, is there?"

Luella shook her head, "We have talked about this earlier, Dee. I don't know the answer, maybe it still hurts her too much to talk about him, maybe she still hasn't been able to deal with his death."

Deanna sighed, her anger slowly ebbing down. "I know, but I still wish she'd tell me more about him."

Luella smiled, seeing that the worst of Deanna's anger was over. "You should go home now, patch things up with your mum."

Luella had wanted to calm her friend further but her words had the exact opposite impact. Deanna's eyes widened in horror as the reality of her earlier accusations hit her full force. "What have I said?!" she cried out softly turning her head towards her home. "Oh my god, I've been so cruel to her!"

She quickly rose from her seated position. "Thank you so much, Lu, you're my best friend and you'll always be. But now I have to go apologise."

Luella got up as well, "I understand, you don't have to explain. I'll see you again tomorrow."

"If my mum hasn't skinned me by then," she joked trying to make light out of the situation but the amusement did not reach her eyes.

Luella smiled a similar fake grin and grabbed her friend's arm. "Let me know what happened, and remember, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Lu," Deanna said, her dark eyes completely sincere. "I mean it, thank you, for everything."

Then she turned and Luella watched her go, a softly muttered, "I'm so sorry, mum, so sorry!" reaching her ears.

The front door opened with a crash. "I'm so sorry, mum, I didn't mean a word of it! I didn't mean it!"

Deanna found Caitlin still sitting in the chair she had collapsed on earlier but the desolate and wounded expression was gone as she had composed herself for Deanna's sake. She pulled her distraught daughter close to her. "I know, darling, I know."

"I just wanted to hurt you, any way I could think of, I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, don't worry, it's alright."

"I'm so sorry, I lost my temper, so sorry! I didn't mean what I said! I didn't!"

Caitlin continued to caress her contrite daughter and making soothing noises. "Shh, it's fine, love; I know you, you're my daughter."

So they sat together, mother and daughter, until the day's events finally caught up with the both physically and mentally drained Deanna and she fell asleep in her mother's lap.

Caitlin looked tenderly at the young girl in her arms, an incredible feeling of peace descending on her. "You're my daughter," she repeated softly before carrying her to bed.

~**Fin**~

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